Israel would use "disproportionate" force to destroy Lebanese villages from which Hizbullah fighters fired rockets at its cities in any future war, an Israeli general said in comments published on Friday. "What happened in the Dahiya quarter of Beirut in 2006 will happen in every village from which Israel is fired on," said Gadi Eisenkot, head of the army's northern division.

Dahiya is the Hizbullah stronghold in south Beirut that Israel flattened in sustained air raids during a 34-day war in the summer of 2006. "We will apply disproportionate force on it (village) and cause great damage and destruction there. From our standpoint, these are not civilian villages, they are military bases," Eisenkot told the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper. "This is not a recommendation. This is a plan. And it has been approved," Eisenkot added.

According to the Israeli general, Hizbullah had significantly improved its rocket fire capability since the end of the war two years ago. He rejected accusations that Israel was violating a U.N.-brokered ceasefire by sending aircraft on reconnaissance flights over Lebanon, saying the aerial missions were necessary given that Iran and Syria continue to arm Hizbullah in breach of the U.N. truce.

"Hizbullah is building capabilities against us that contravene the agreement signed by the Lebanese government at the end of the war," said Eisenkot. "Therefore there is legitimacy to continue the flights over southern Lebanon and over Lebanon in general."